The first group — Louis, John, and Lisa — were running toward the loud noise they had heard earlier, hoping to find someone.
When they reached a certain spot, Lisa suddenly stopped. The two boys also halted, and Louis asked,
"What's wrong, Lisa? Why did you stop?"
Lisa pointed ahead of her and said,
"Look over there."
When the two boys looked in the direction she was pointing, they were confused. John frowned and said,
"What in the world is that house doing here?"
"But it's not the same house we entered before — the one where we got separated. This one looks different," Lisa said.
"You're right," Louis agreed.
"So what do we do now?" Lisa asked.
"Maybe we should knock on the door and ask for help," John suggested.
"No, I'm not doing that. Do you remember what happened last time when we entered that house? We all got separated," Lisa replied.
"But there's no old man here this time, so we should be fine," John said.
"So, just because that creepy old man isn't here, you think it's safe now?" Lisa grumbled.
"Maybe," John replied.
She groaned and turned to Louis.
"Louis, can you please put some sense into him? We shouldn't be walking into abandoned houses like this!"
Louis opened his mouth — and to her surprise — said,
"Maybe John is right. We should check inside."
"You too, Louis?" She paused for a moment, folded her arms, and sighed.
"Fine. You two go. I'm not entering."
"Are you sure you want to stay out here alone?" Louis asked.
"Yeah. If you're not coming with us, that means you'll be alone. Do you really want that?" John added with a smirk.
Lisa hesitated for a moment, then gave up.
"Fine. Let's go," she said, almost defeated.
The three of them started walking toward the house.
___________________________________
Louis and Luka were staring ahead, completely confused. Luka finally broke the silence.
"Just what the hell… how did this van get here?"
It was the same van — their van — the one they had left behind.
"I don't understand. What's going on?" Louis muttered.
"I'm seriously going insane, you know that?" Luka said.
"But who brought it here?" Louis asked.
"Why the hell are you asking me? I don't know!" Luka snapped.
"You said the van was broken, right?" Louis asked again.
"Yeah, I'm sure. The engine wouldn't start when I tried," Luka replied.
"Then how did it get here?" Louis said in disbelief.
"I don't know! I don't know what's going on anymore. I just want to get out of this place," Luka said, his voice trembling.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's find the others and leave immediately," Louis said.
Luka nodded, and they both turned away from the van, walking forward again.
____________________________________
Lisa, Stephanie, and Max were following the voices of Stephanie's parents, which they had heard a few minutes earlier.
"Just where are these voices coming from? It feels like we've been following them forever," Max said, frustrated.
"Calm down, Max. I'm sure we'll find them," Lisa replied.
"I don't know, Lisa. This whole situation feels worse by the minute. I wish we had just stayed in the van, waiting for the rain to stop and for morning to come," Max said.
"Yeah, me too. But we can't do anything now except keep searching for our friends and her parents — and then leave this place," Lisa said.
"Yeah, you're right," Max replied.
Then suddenly, they heard footsteps — someone was coming.
"Maybe it's her parents," Lisa whispered.
"Yeah… but stay alert. We don't know who it might be," Max said, picking up a tree branch nearby, ready to defend himself and the girls if something dangerous appeared.
___________________________________
John and Luna were quietly walking through the jungle, still hoping to find their friends.
After a while, John sighed.
"I'm tired. Can we rest for a bit?"
"Wow, you're weak," Luna teased.
"Hey, I'm serious. I've been walking for hours. Aren't you tired too?" John asked.
"No, I'm not," Luna said proudly.
"Are you even human?" John asked, half-joking.
But to his surprise, Luna answered in a strangely uneasy tone,
"No, I'm not."
Her tone sent chills down John's spine. He froze and stammered,
"Luna…"
"I'm joking, idiot!" Luna burst out laughing, finally coming back to herself.
"Don't scare me like that!" John shouted, still shaken.
"Aw, are you scared?" Luna mocked him playfully.
"No, I'm not!" John said defensively.
"Okay, fine. If you really want to rest, we can take a short break," Luna said, sitting down on the grass.
John sighed and sat down beside her.
_____________________________________
Luna was walking through the jungle, hoping to find her real friends and get out of there as quickly as possible.
She had been walking for a few minutes when she suddenly heard something — faint voices coming from nearby.
She froze for a moment, fear creeping up her spine. Maybe those people followed me and found me again, she thought.
But then she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Determined not to be helpless, she picked up a nearby tree branch and started walking carefully toward the sound — ready to defend herself if it was them.
____________________________________
Max and Anna were sitting on the grass. Anna was still shaken and slightly crying after what had happened earlier, though she had begun to calm down a little. Max sat quietly beside her, waiting until she stopped trembling.
When she finally seemed a bit calmer, Max gently asked,
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm not feeling fine," she replied in a low, weak voice.
"Don't worry, Anna. I'm sure everything is going to be alright," Max said softly.
"How, Max? How can we be okay after seeing something like that?" Anna said, tears forming in her eyes.
"I don't know," Max admitted. "But maybe you should just try to calm down a bit… and breathe."
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Anna said nothing and stayed quiet.
Max looked at her for a moment and said,
"When you're ready, tell me. We'll start searching again."
Anna didn't answer. She just sat in silence.
Max also stayed quiet, looking up at the cloudy, dimly shining sky above them.